Trauma, Burn & Critical Care Surgeon - UW Faculty

Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

Additional Information

Barclay T. Stewart, MD, PhD, MSc, FACS is a board-certified trauma, burn, surgical critical care, and general surgeon practicing at Harborview Medical Center, the University of Washington’s Level I adult and pediatric trauma center and regional burn center. He is an Associate Professor of Surgery, Associate Chief of Trauma and Burns, and Pediatric Trauma Medical Director, with an active clinical practice spanning trauma, emergency general surgery, burn care, surgical critical care and ECMO/ECLS across the emergency department, operating room, and intensive care unit. Dr. Stewart provides objective, evidence-based medical-legal consultation and expert witness services in cases involving acute surgical illness, traumatic injury, burns, and/or critical care. His expertise is particularly relevant in cases requiring detailed analysis of clinical decision-making over time, including failure to rescue, delayed or missed diagnosis, escalation of care, and complex causation in critically ill patients. His areas of expertise include trauma care (blunt and penetrating; adult and pediatric), emergency general surgery (including bowel obstruction, perforation, ischemia, and intra-abdominal sepsis), burn resuscitation and complications, postoperative and ICU complications, and multidisciplinary care across Prehospital-ED-OR-ICU transitions. He also has extensive experience in design and maintenance of trauma systems, triage, and interfacility transfer decision-making, including systems-level contributors to adverse outcomes such as communication failures, delayed escalation, and resource limitations. His work frequently involves analysis of whether earlier recognition or intervention would have altered clinical trajectory or outcome. Dr. Stewart holds an MD, MSc in Public Health, and PhD in Public Health Services, and is board certified in General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and serves in national and international leadership roles in trauma and burn care. He is a consultant and advisor to the World Health Organization on trauma and surgical systems and has served on guideline committees and program development efforts related to emergency and injury care. Additional, he is the Principal Investigator on multiple federally funded research programs (including NIH and Department of Defense) focused on trauma systems, burn care, and critical illness. He has authored hundreds of peer-reviewed publications and serves on editorial boards and as a reviewer for major trauma, burn, surgical and health services journals. Dr. Stewart has provided expert opinion and testimony in both civil and criminal matters, including cases involving medical malpractice, traumatic injury, burns, and catastrophic illness. His approach is objective and non-advocacy driven, with a focus on clearly distinguishing causation from association and translating complex trauma, burn, surgical and ICU care into understandable, defensible opinions for deposition and trial. Dr. Stewart is available for case merit review, medical records review, written reports, deposition, trial testimony, and independent medical examinations. He is licensed in Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming and maintains active clinical practice in high-acuity trauma, emergency general surgery, burn, and critical care at the University of Washington.